The annual Steam Summer Sale started this week, and thousands of games are currently discounted. This includes plenty of games in one of our favorite genres: beat 'em ups like Rotwood! With that in mind, we've compiled a list of every beat 'em up in the Steam Summer Sale - and their co-op features! Lots of these game support Remote Play Together while the console versions have no online co-op, making these the best versions to get.
June brings lots of announcements from the big game publishers every year, and this one is no different. Microsoft's Games Showcase was stronger than usual, but what about the Big N? Well, Nintendo adopted a "more is more" approach with today's Nintendo Direct, showcasing dozens and dozens of games for brief periods of time. There are definitely lots of games to get excited about, including the impending Star Fox, Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, and the remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time!
Today, Microsoft held its annual Xbox Games Showcase to announce and highlight the games coming to Xbox platforms this year and next year. The lineup features some a handful of co-op games (mostly titles we already knew about, such as Gears of War: E-Day), some third-party heavy hitters, and a smattering of interesting indie games.
Rayman's 30th anniversary celebrations continue as Ubisoft announced today they are remastering their 2013 platformer Rayman Legends as Rayman Legends Retold. Alongside a graphical overhaul, a shift from the UbiArt Framework engine to Snowdrop, and fully voiced characters and cutscenes, this "reimagining" will feature a new story, new "dragon ride" levels, and a new realm to explore. I was invited to participate in a remote hands-on preview of a work-in-progress build of the game recently, and I came away feeling overall positive about the game's revitalized return.
June is upon us and with it comes the yearly no-longer-E3 barrage of game showcases. Place your bets now on how many titles with co-op features will be announced! Will it be all of them? Our Database Master hopes not, but why should we care what he wants?
When Absolum debuted last year (and this year on Xbox), it quickly emerged as one of the best modern beat 'em ups. A big part of Absolum's appeal is that it was the only roguelike brawler on the market. Well, that has just changed with the arrival of Mad King Redemption from Secret Mission and Pixel Doors. This one is both a beat 'em up and a roguelike, but it looks vastly different from just about any other game in the genre thanks to its bold 2.5D graphics. It also features 4-player local co-op, so it's definitely on our must-play list.
The two Evoland Games are action RPGs that mix 2D and 3D graphics along with plenty of clever references to gaming history. Shiro Games, the developer, has taken that know-how and applied it to Farever, a new 3D action RPG in the style of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Genshin Impact. The game has just launched in Steam Early Access, and it has already sold over 100, 000 copies. It also features 4-player online co-op, so we're definitely looking forward to trying it out.
Sometimes, workers just really resent their bosses. The boss looks down on them, asks them to do too much, and never provides substantial raises. Who wouldn't want to rise up and overthrow the tyrannical boss? Well, that's not what Underling Uprising is about. Oh no, this game is about a group of test subjects who rebel against the mad scientist who empowered them. This fresh, new beat em up (and Kickstarter success story) comes from Dummy Dojo and Abylight Studios, and it features 4-player local co-op.
54 titles with co-op features were released across various platforms last month. Yesterday alone, seven games hit the digital store fronts, according to our release calendar. The database here at Co-Optimus saw 131 new entries, boosting the total number of games we track to 16,800.
Okay, so your co-op crew plays Helldivers 2 and maybe Crime Boss: Rockay City or something when you want an endless co-op experience. Still, do either of those games have robot cowboys fighting skeletons in the wild west? I don't think so! Far Far West from Evil Raptor and Fireshine Games aims to scratch that itch. It's out now on Steam Early Access, and it features some wild 4-player online steampunk shooting action.
It seems like it was only two years ago when Taito released the first co-op console entry in the Puzzle Bobble/Bust-a-Move series, Puzzle Bobble Everybubble. That's because it was two years ago! The only major downside to Everybubble is that it was a Switch exclusive game. Other people want to play Puzzle Bobble too! Well, now some of them can, because Arc System Works has just published Puzzle Bobble Everybubble on Steam. It still features 4-player local co-op and 2-player online versus battles, not to mention plenty of bubble-popping puzzles.
In early 2025, Hit Start Studios released a plucky little spelunking game called Brave Escape on Steam. The game is all about a dude and his robot cooperating to make their way through a gigantic cave, and it's exclusively playable in co-op. No single-player escaping around here! Well, there's even more cave-climbing to do now thanks to the latest update, which adds 45 more levels. Additionally, we've learned that Brave Escape is coming to consoles this year.
